Summitclimb
Everest Tibet 2012: Team heading back
out of ABC for the summit of Mt. Everest

This is a dispatch for the 22nd of May:

We're here at ABC. We rested a couple of days.
It was great to have Jacques and Jangbu come down after summiting. We
congratulated them and celebrated. Tomorrow, the 23rd of May, the rest of us
are headed up the mountain...We're going to head up to the North Col, off onto
Camp 2, Camp 3 and hopefully to the summit! We will keep you updated. Thanks
for following our expedition.

Earlier:

Dan Mazur with a second dispatch, the 20th of May: Talked with Jacques and
Jangbu on the phone at the North Col. They are doing fine. They reached the
summit this morning at 5:30am. They will be down here on ABC tomorrow. We send
all our congratulations. They did a great job.

Earlier:

Hi, this is Dan Mazur, the SummitClimb Everest Tibet leader, calling in a
dispatch for the 20th of May. I’m calling from Advanced Basecamp.

On the 19th of May we had a busy day. We were in camp 2 in the morning and
packed up to go, hiking up the hill. A large team next to us decided to pack
up and go down the mountain. They had heard a bad weather forecast, so
everyone on that team went down, including all of their staff. We decided that
we would go with them because it would be the wise, prudent and conservative
thing to do.

We’ve heard there is supposed to be a good weather window on the 24th and we
hope to have some assistance in verifying that with wind speeds, altitude,
etcetera.

Jan, Beow, Tenji, Josette, Dan, Pasang and Gyalje went down to the North Col
and eventually basecamp. However, Jacques decided he wanted to continue going
up. Jangbu joined him and we received a call on the radio this morning that
was relayed from Gyalje on the North Col that they had reached the summit! It
was hard to understand the call because of the wind speed and it seems like
Jangbu seems to have laryngitis and has lost his voice. But it sounds like
they reached the summit, are doing OK and on their way down.

We’ll have more updates for you as they come in. Thank you very much for
following our expedition. Bye, bye

May 18 from Dan Mazur:This is a dispatch from the 18th of May we're at 7,600m
at Camp 2. Everybody is here...Weather was good today. Had a really nice walk.
The last couple of hours before we got into camp it started snowing making
things a bit challenging. Thankfully we're here now. We plan to wake up early
tomorrow and head to Camp 3. Thanks for following the expedition. Bye.

May 15: Hi, this is the 15th of May. We're in ABC. Everyone is OK. Our Sherpas
are going to Camp 3 today to carry a load of oxygen and will be coming back
down to ABC today. Our members are going to rest today in ABC and watch the
weather and we're hoping to go the summit! Thank you. Dan

May 14 from Dan Mazur:

We're in camp. The weather is beautiful.
Everyone is doing fine. We're headed up for ABC.

May 10:

For the past few days, life at Everest Base camp has been a period of rest,
recuperation and preparation. At present at EBC-Tibet we have Dan, Jack, Jan,
Josette, Geoff, Beow and our dedicated team of Tibetian cook and helpers. Our
capable sherpas are already in Advance Base camp, preparing the high camp.

In theory, we should be making plans for our second acclimatisation rotation
to high camp i.e., camp 2 or camp 3. In reality, we have to also account for
our biggest challenge- the weather. For the past few days, the weather has
been typically tibetian on this side of Everest i.e., at EBC we had alternate
days of a windy day, snowing next, sunny next day, cloudy, and then sunny
again. At EBC we can see the magnificent view of Everest from our campsite.
For these past days, on the high mountain the wind has been ferocious. We can
see the wind plumes trailing the peak of Everest daily [maybe, 50-80km/hr
wind].

That being the situation, we designed our own individual program for a few
days. Josette and Geoff trek back up to Interim base camp then ABC, to take
picture of the Rabula pass, it looks into the seldom seen Kangshung side of
Everest. They came back today, happy on their mini-diversion and task
accomplished. Meanwhile, Dan, Beow, Jack and Jan did daily 2-4hr trek around
the EBC camp. We have trekked up a frozen river, trek to Rongbuk Monastry for
a chinese meal (6hr return), climb up west and east side of EBC- up to
300-400m higher.

The learning from this few days of rest is the notion of flowing with nature
and accommodating the weather. Climbing a mountain is not just wanting to do
what you want to do, we need to work along side the great forces of nature and
to apprerciate and to respect mother nature.

May 6 Dispatch from Dan Mazur:

Back in Base Camp resting. We've heard the rope
fixing team has made it to Camp 2, 7500m and working toward Camp 3, 8300m.

We're biding our time in Base Camp, staying
warm and staying healthy and fit. We hope to have a crack at the summit as
soon as the rope fixing team gets the job done.

We've have snow several nights, but morning
dawns with lots of sun and no clouds and no wind. Conditions are getting
better. It's warmer.

Today we walked up from interim camp up to ABC at 6400m. It was a long and
beautiful walk on the miracle highway surrounded by towering iced pilgrims and
it was really impressive. We had great sunny weather and then for the last
hour the snow started to come in so it made it even more realistic.

We got to our really comfortable ABC camp with a heated tent and our own
sleeping tents and everybody’s comfortably tucked in. Dave and Drew decided to
stay down at interim camp.

Hi this is the despatch for Everest Tibet for the 20th April.

Today we rested in interim camp at 5800m and we took it easy some of us took
walks, took photos there’s a good view of Everest and basically we all relaxed
and read books.

One of our members Peter decided that he would stay at Basecamp and we have
two staff down there looking after Peter, one cook and one kitchen/porter
guide, hopefully he’ll come up and join us soon. If not our Advanced Basecamp
trekking group will be back down in a few days to rejoin him.

Thanks a lot for following our expedition and I will keep in touch. Thank You

This is the dispatch for the 19th April.

Today we took a rest day, in our camp at 5800m the weather was really nice,
warm, sunny, a little bit of light winds, no snow and a couple of our members
came up from base camp today to join us so we had a nice group around the
dinner table, some good conversation and we plan on taking another rest day
tomorrow to acclimatise.

Thanks for following our expedition

Hi this is the dispatch for 18th April. All the team hiked up to interim camp
at 5800m, the weather was good and it was a long walk to the east Rongbuk
glacier and a very beautiful walk.

Some of the team members decided to stay at basecamp and rest a bit and come
up tomorrow.

Thanks for following our expedition

17 April -
Hello family and friends. This is Steve reporting from Tibet base camp.
We are sad that our friend Vladimir had to go back down last night to be
checked by a doctor but happy to hear he has cleared the border and is safe in
Kathmandu.
Today (17 April) was a rest day and the team is in high spirits ready to move
higher to Interim Camp in the morning. The big excitement today was the
arrival of the yaks and their departure with our gear for higher camps. It was
sunny and windy all day with spectacular views of Everest. We can see across
the west ridge to Nuptse in Nepal as well. Of course the highlight of every
day is the good food and the hot showers. The wind is a bit chilly so speedy
dressing at the end of the shower is mandatory.
Yesterday (16 April) we walked down the hill a bit to the Rongbuk monastery
where we descended into a deep low room and the lama blessed each of us, We
then went to an upper level outdoors and held a Puja ceremony, Our endeavor
was blessed by the lama and we threw tsampa (barley flour) to be blown by the
wind. Dave presented a large medical kit to the lama for use by the monastery
and surrounding people which was greatly appreciated.
After the Puja we walked over to the tent village and drank tea and had noodle
soup for lunch and spent a nice couple of hours joking with the proprietress.
The group is all watching Hunger Games on DVD now and will soon retire. Best
to all our families that's all for now from Tibet base camp.
-Steve

15 April -
Well here we are at Base Camp. But I wouldn’t say it’s camping. It’s more like
glamping (glamour + camping= glamping). We arrived last night at around 6pm to
our well and truly established glamp site and after dumping some stuff into
the tent, we came to the mess tent for what was, by far, the best meal I’ve
had on this trip. The Sherpas did a sensational job and continue to do so.
After dinner we just had a social time in the mess tent before retiring for
some sleep…but that sleep never really happened for me. Going from sunny
Australia to the base of Everest is a bit of a temperature shift, so it was a
bit tricky to sleep when it was about -5°C outside. And whoever wrote “-30°C”
on my sleeping bag is definitely gonna get a slap in the face from me. So it
was a difficult night, plus the diamox (alt sickness pills) still require at
least two toilet breaks at night, if not more.
In the morning, what a view! Looking at the North Face of Mt Everest on a
clear day. How good. It’s quite an impressive sight because if you didn’t know
already…it’s a pretty big hill. Just a rest day today at Base Camp. Had a
shower which was borderline disastrous. I half expected the clothes I left
outside to be blown down the valley as she is blowing a gale (it was either
that or leave them inside to get wet).
Things are looking good though as it’s lunch time so I am gonna have to love
you and leave you. Til next time.
Whitey, Ben White from Sydney Australia

Earlier:

12 April -
We reached Tingri at 4200 metres. It is a bit windy, but everyone is fine.
Dan Mazur - expedition leader

11 April -
Hi, this is Dan Mazur writing from beautiful downtown Nyalam, Tibet, at 3700
metres. Our departure from Kathmandu on the 10th went well, and we crossed the
border from Nepal into Tibet efficiently and smoothly.
We took a rest and acclimatization day in snowy Nyalam, exploring the town and
surrounding hills. The weather is normal, not too cold, a mixture of light
snow and light wind.
Our Tibetan hosts have been extremely friendly and very welcoming. Everyone in
the team are doing well, becoming adjusted to the altitude, and very healthy
so far!!!

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